It's All Coming Out
by Colourful-Mess
Summary: The DTent boys are in the rec room when a minor earthquake causes the door to get blocked. Trapped inside, with only each other for company, they start talking. The secrets start pouring out. NO OCs just the DTent boys who we all know and love
1. I Was Gay Once

**Yippee! My terrible writer's block is over (fanfic-wise anyway) and I've had an idea for a Holes fic! I just hope it turns out OK. No new girls. Not even a new GUY! Just the D-Tent boys who we all know and love. Let me know if you like this idea. I'm very open to suggestions. And (if you've read my other fic, you'll know what's coming…) keep the criticism CONSTRUCTIVE!!!**

**IOIOIOI**

"Weather forecast's bad," Zigzag muttered from the sofa in the wreck room as he gazed intently at the smashed-up TV screen, "Lotta rain's on its way."

The others exchanged glances and rolled their eyes.

"You do know that TV's busted, Zig man?" Squid ventured, flicking a peanut at his friend. Zigzag blushed.

"I… I know," he mumbled, "It's just something to do. Wish it would rain though. Maybe the whole desert would flood and the lake would come back again."

"Yeah, but it'd be harder to dig underwater," Armpit mused, and everyone stared at him. X-Ray opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it.

"We'd have to build an ark," grinned Squid, "And get two of every animal. Two scorpions, two rattlesnakes…"

"But there's only one Armpit," X-Ray laughed, and everyone joined in, except Armpit, who looked a bit confused.

_Clunk!_

Everyone looked around. A book had fallen off a nearby table. It was followed by a pen and an empty canteen.

"What's going on?" Caveman said, sitting up on the floor, where he had been lying.

"We're going to die!" Zigzag screamed.

"Chill guys, it was just an earthquake!" X-Ray sighed.

"An earthquake?" Caveman laughed, "I didn't feel a thing. If it was an earthquake, it must've been, what? Minus a million on the Richter scale?"

"Richter scale?" Magnet repeated, looking confused. Caveman shrugged his shoulders and sighed.

"Forget it," he sighed. He lay back down on the floor and put his hands behind his head. Everyone else followed his lead, stretching themselves out across the room.

Then the door slammed shut.

"It's those assholes from A-tent!" X-Ray shouted, jumping up, "Trying to be funny, are you?"

He ran towards the door, and yanked on the handle. When it didn't open, he released a stream of swear words.

"Open the door, you creeps!" he yelled. Everyone else watched with a weird fascination. "This is war, bitches!" shouted Squid, happily joining in X-Ray's anger.

Quietly, Zero slid off the sofa and walked over to the door. He dropped to the floor and looked under the door.

"There's something blocking the door," he muttered, "A lot of stuff. I don't think the guys from A-Tent could have got that much stuff there in that amount of time."

"Hey, what do you know? There was an earthquake," Magnet said. X-Ray ignored him and wrenched on the handle.

"Gimme a hand Zig!" he called. Zigzag got up and began pulling on the door handle. After about five minutes of pushing, pulling, banging and swearing, they both collapsed on the sofa, exhausted.

"Hate to tell you this, guys, but I think we might be stuck in here," Zigzag informed them solemnly.

**IOIOIOI**

An hour later, after a lot of pulling at the door and yelling, they heard Mr Sir's voice outside.

"What's with the yelling, ladies? This ain't a Girl Scout camp, you know!"

Never had they been so happy to hear Mr Sir's voice.

"The door's blocked!" Squid yelled, getting a bit panicky, "Can you open it or unblock it or whatever?"

There was a silence as Mr Sir trudged round to the door side of the wreck room. Then he sighed.

"Sorry ladies, it's seriously blocked. I'm gonna need to call someone to move all this stuff. What happened?"

"Earthquake!" they chorused, starting to panic.

"Whatever you say, girls," Mr Sir sighed, before he trudged off again. Squid let out a yell and slammed his fist against the door.

"I'm not staying in this goddam room until he sees fit!" he shouted. He picked up a chair and flung it across the room in frustration.

"Well there's nothing else we can do!" X-Ray yelled back.

"Well it's your fault!"

"What?" how is it my fault?"

"If you hadn't been such a…"

"_Shut up!_"

Everyone shut up and turned to stare at Zero, who was standing on the table. Zigzag's mouth dropped open and they all stared at Zero. Nobody had ever heard the kid talk before, never mind yell.

"You can talk?" was all Armpit could say.

"What's up with you guys?" Zero asked, "We've been stuck in here for two minutes and you're biting each other's heads off! How long would we be in here if we weren't stuck? Another hour? And we wouldn't try and kill each other. So get a grip!"

There was a stunned silence. Everyone just stared at Zero, who seemed to be looking more surprised than any of them. Finally, Caveman shrugged.

"I'm with Zero on this one," he said, "We're locked in for five minutes and you're acting like psychos. Chill, dudes."

Slowly, everyone shrugged and agreed. Squid went and sat down on the sofa.

"So," he said, lounging back, "You guys heard about that Crisscross dude from B-Tent?"

"That creep that won't shut up about all the girls he's done?" Magnet asked, sitting next to Squid.

"Yeah!" Squid said with glee, "Well you know that letter he was so secretive about yesterday? Well one of the A-Tent guys got hold if it. It was from his _boyfriend_!"

X-Ray hooted with laughter. "You're kidding?" he laughed, sitting opposite them on a chair, "He's a homo? No shit?"

"No shit!" Squid grinned, and everyone snorted with laughter. Then, Zigzag spoke up from his chair.

"I was gay once."

Everyone whipped round to look at him. They were all unsure of whether he was joking or not. Armpit had a frozen laugh on his face.

"You kidding, man?" he asked.

Zigzag, however, remained completely serious.

"His name was Kyle," he said, "I'd just broken up with my girlfriend and I was pretty down. I met Kyle at school – he was in the year above me. He was a bit weird, like me and we were really good friends. He came out to me, and told me that he had feelings for me. Well, what was I supposed to do? I was depressed about Kayrie – that was my girlfriend – and I did really like the guy. So I thought hey, why not? We had some laughs. Danced a lot, kissed a lot, the usual things you do in a relationship really. It was actually quite fun."

Everyone just stared at him in disbelief. Finally, Squid shook his head very slowly.

"You're one weird dude, Zig," he sighed.

"Are you still gay then?" Armpit asked suddenly, edging away slightly. Zigzag shook his head.

"I met another girl, Alice. She was hot, and I decided I wasn't gay. Kyle was really nice about it. We don't keep in touch much now though."

There was another silence.

"You're real homophobic, dudes!" Zigzag said to break the silence, "At least I know now that I'm not gay! How do you guys know you're straight if you've never been with a guy?"

Nobody answered. Maybe that was because nobody had an answer. Finally, X-Ray stood up and faced the others.

"You know what?" he said, "Zigzag came out with that – probably one of his biggest secrets – after he was shut in here for a few minutes. We're going to be in here for hours. I bet we can find out a bunch of shit in that time! Who else has a secret like that?"

"Come on, X!" Magnet laughed, "What is this? A,little girl's slumber party? None of us are going to say anything like that!"

Just then, there was a knock at the door and Mr Sir's voice rang into the room.

"Bad news, ladies," he said, and there was no disguising the amusement in his voice. Everyone let out a collective groan. If Mr Sir was happy about it, they were definitely not going to like it.

**IOIOIOIOI**

**OK, that's very sketchy at the moment, but I've got good ideas for it. Just a lot of stuff about their pasts. Secrets, mostly embarrassing, galore! Ideas welcome, and constructive criticism is my friend. But flames just suck! Don't bother flaming me! Because that's smelly! I might take a while to update because I have some major exams coming up and I need to pass them! I don't think this fic's as good as my last one, but that might be because I'm an angst addict. **

**Laters, dudes**

**JAR**


	2. My Father In Law

**Aaah, chapter two. Thank you to all my lovely reviewers – no flames! Nice, nice people. Well, I'm happy because I'm on holidays for two weeks. Got to revise for my stupid exams though. Grr.**

**But fics are more important than getting my Highers and getting into uni. So out comes Magnet's secret.**

**leisen die frage? (): Well, this update isn't exactly ASAP, but every time my mum catches me not studying, I get shouted at. Glad you like it though!**

**DracosDefender: Ah, new friend! I'm updating as quickly as I can, but that means that YOU have to review again! So review!**

**beckybabe: X's secret is very secret, as is Squid's. 'Secret' meaning I haven't decided yet. Magnet's married? What? I like that idea though…**

**Drunken Boxer: Thanks for the review, and the help. I suppose I'm workshopping Zigzag's character a bit – making him a bit weirder, and he really doesn't see it as that big a deal. It was just that X got ideas from that. If that makes any sense at all. Anyway, please review this chapter!**

**The Bunnies Will Kill Us All: I'm updating! So command no more! I like your name. I'm glad someone else shares my opinion on bunnies.**

**dorkyduck: glad to see you reviewing again! And glad to see you like the oddness. There will me many more oddnesses in the rest of this fic, I hope!**

**Anime Girl23: Alas, I don't generally read or write slash. I'm not sure why. But if you write some slash, I promise I'll read it, because I like you. And this chappie's Magnet's secret (he's one of my favourites too!) This chappie may be angsty, and Squid's def will be.**

**Queen o' Randomness: Updating – as you can see. I think I've read some of your fics. I like.**

**This chappie is dedicated to Drunken Boxer, for her constructive criticism, and to dorkyduck, for coming back!**

**IOIOIOI**

"_Two days_?" Squid yelled, "We're stuck in here for two days? You're not serious! Because if you are, I'm going to kill someone! I mean it!"

Everyone took a step away from him.

"Sorry ladies, but the guys don't want to come up until the day after tomorrow, in case there's another earthquake."

"But that earthquake was so tiny, nobody felt it!" Magnet protested. Mr Sir just laughed.

"Yeah, but it was strong enough to jam the door," Mr Sir said happily, "And they thought it might not be safe to come down for a couple of days. Don't worry, there's enough food in there to keep you going. And you won't have to dig."

They heard Mr Sir's footsteps trudging away and all flopped down on the sofas, groaning. Squid punched the door before sitting down, and glared at everyone.

"Calm down, man!" Magnet said, "It's ok! Dude, you're starting to remind me of my father-in-law when you flip out like that!"

Realising what he'd just said, he clapped his hand over his mouth, and everyone stared at him.

"I meant my… my step father!" he stammered, "My mum's new husband! He… he freaks out at a lot of things. He…"

"You have a father-in-law?" X-Ray asked, his ears almost literally perking up, "Seriously?"

"No!" Magnet insisted, "That just came out. I meant stepdad! It's an easy mistake to make!"

X-Ray rolled his eyes. He gestured to Armpit and Squid who immediately jumped on Magnet, wrestling him to the ground. To give Magnet credit, he fought back pretty damn well. But he was outnumbered, and smaller than both of them.

"_Mierda santa_!" he yelled, "What're you doing, you psychos?"

X-Ray looked down at him. "I told you," he said, "When people are stuck in a room together, they come out with all sorts of things. Zig came out with that gay thing, didn't he?"

"But that's Zigzag!" Magnet protested, "He's… well, he's a bit weird, isn't he? Of course he'd come out with that. He probably thinks we're going to die and that'll be his last confession or something. You know, acute paranoia and all that."

"Hey!" Zigzag protested weakly, though he clearly didn't mind being called 'a bit weird'. After all, he was.

"Yeah, and you came out with 'father-in-law'!" X-Ray insisted, "Things like that don't just slip out! Now spill, or I'll spill you!"

"_El hijo terco de una ramera_," Magnet muttered under his breath, "I'm honestly not married, or anything."

Squid grabbed Magnet's arm and twisted it behind his back. Magnet let out a stream of Spanish curses.

_"Joda la mierda de desgraciado de mierda ramera bastarda!"_

There was a silence as everyone exchanged confused glances. Caveman and Zero shrugged at each other.

"Give up, X!" Caveman said, "It was just a slip of the tongue. You're not going to get anything out of him."

"I wouldn't be so sure!" X-Ray said. With that, he slapped Magnet round the face with all the strength he could muster.

"You bastard!" Magnet cried, more in shock than in anger. He shook Armpit and Squid off and leapt at X-Ray. The two boys fell to the ground, punching, biting and cursing. Being their friends, the others really should have done something to stop them. But come on! This was entertainment! So they did nothing.

**IOIOIOI**

The two of them wrestled on the floor for at least ten minutes, neither of them really getting the upper hand for more than a few seconds – they were both equal strength, more or less.

Finally they stopped, once everyone had forgotten exactly why they were fighting. Magnet pushed X-Ray off him with all the strength he could muster, stood up and spat something white into his hand.

"Is that your tooth, dude?" Zigzag gasped. Magnet shrugged and put it back into his mouth casually.

"Chill, man. It's not real. My real one got knocked out in a fight three years ago."

Suddenly, everyone was all ears. X-Ray, who was sitting on the floor, a trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth, was forgotten. The Magnet's black eye was forgotten, as was his cut lip.

"So you've got false teeth?" Caveman grinned. Magnet sighed.

"You're going to get it out of me one way or another, aren't you?" he said, casting an icy glare in X-Ray's direction. Everyone nodded enthusiastically. Magnet sat down on the sofa, wiped some blood from his face and began his story.

"OK, you have to get that this totally isn't because I'm Hispanic," he began, "It's nothing to do with that. It's my family. They're a bit weird. My granddad was in the army, see? In 'Nam. He's always going on about it. And he had this friend called Art. I don't know all the ins and outs of it, but one drunken night, they made this weird-ass pact that Art's daughter would marry my granddad's son, so their families could, like, merge. But when neither of them had a daughter, it was chucked down to the next generation. I don't think they really wanted to do that, but they were both too stubborn to go ahead and cancel the deal. So more or less since I was born, I've been, like, betrothed to this girl.

"I'm not actually married to her, but they act like we are. And it's not that I don't like her, either. Her name's Janine and she's nice enough. But she's four years younger than me. I can't think of her as more than a little sister or whatever. But she won't be legal for a few years. My granddad's dead now, and all we have to do is wait for Art to die and we can forget the stupid pact. Still, it kinda sucks. I'm fifteen and I've never had a girlfriend. I've had offers, and I've wanted to. But I can't because of this girl."

"And the tooth?" Caveman pressed.

"Oh, um…" Magnet hung his head, embarrassed; "I did go out with this girl once. I had to do it a bit on the sly in case my dad found out and lectured me on family values and loyalty and stuff. But then the girl found out about Janine, and wouldn't listen when I tried to explain. Then her brother kicked my ass."

"So you're not actually married?" X-Ray piped up from the floor, sounding disappointed. In reply, Magnet flipped him off, without even looking at him.

"OK, I get it, you're mad at me," X-Ray sighed. Still, Magnet said nothing. Everyone else just sighed.

"Can't believe you're almost married," Zigzag laughed, breaking the awkward silence.

"Can't believe you're gay!" Magnet retorted.

"_Was_, dude!" Zigzag corrected, "I _was_ gay."

"You know what?" Squid said finally, "I think I'm liking X's idea. Though slapping Magnet wasn't really the right way to go about it. This is getting real interesting. It's like truth or dare, except without all the making out with drunken strangers, and pier jumping at 2AM, and setting fire to beaches and stuff."

Everyone looked at his in surprise. X-Ray raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Squid grinned, "Clearly you've never spent a night with my friends. At least, I think they were my friends. I can't really remember much of that night…"

Everyone laughed. They couldn't help it. After all, when you're trapped in a shack in a juvenile detention centre for two days, with a bunch of juvenile delinquents who will probably kick your ass when it gets too much for them, you need something to laugh at.

**IOIOIOI**

**That chapter sucked. But please don't flame it. The pressure of exams and watching too many episodes of Mock the Week have done funny things to my brain. But remember, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, please. Nice people. And suggestions are welcome.**

**JAR**


	3. Tomorrow

**Super Ninja Nydia: Thanks for the support. Only thing is, I write when I'm stressed because it's un-stressing. If that's a word. It's a whole lot less stressful than revising biology! But I guess I should – I need to pass my exams to get into uni. Sorry about any factual errors – if you notice any more, let me know. It's just that I haven't read Holes for about a year. Anyhoo, please keep reviewing!**

**SamSammySamantha: Sorry about the OOC of Ziggy. He is hard to capture, but he's my favourite! Well, tied with Zero. Thanks for the support ) Keep reviewing!**

**Tom Felton Lover999: Well I've been kind of leading up to Squid's secret a bit, but it's a bit boring, so I'm gonna have to spice it up a bit. Yeah, I was proud of the 'I was gay once' bit. I wasn't sure who was going to say that, but Ziggy seemed the obvious choice.**

**DracosDefender: Umm… but Squid's not Hispanic. I like the idea though, I might use it. But maybe not for Squid, because I have something for him… I think. Aah, sugar. Sweet, sweet sugar, how I love you.**

**Bunnies Will Kill Us All: Aww I love you too! Ah, what a loving person. I'm assuming this is in a "you love my writing" sense, and I love you in a "I love your reviewing" sense. Anyhoo, keep reviewing.**

**dorkyduck: Well Zigzag wasn't REALLY gay. He was just experimenting. I'm glad he's with you. You can protect him from all the horrible OCs and Mary Sues! Magnet's my… fourth favourite (after Ziggy, Zero and Squid), so I didn't want to marry him off properly. That would hurt me too much.**

**Queen o' Randomness: I can't wait to see what I do with X-Ray too. Wait… do I have to think of something? Noo I'm running out of ideas! I need a ghostwriter. I've been a ghostwriter for people before, so it's time they returned the favour! Well, any suggestions are welcome for ideas. Wait! I've just had an idea for X! Awesome!**

**The Dark Side Had Candy: Glad you like it! You've changed your name again! I think I like this one best. But the dark side didn't have candy when I was with them. They had cookies and they had salt and vinegar crisps (that's chips to Americans). But then they chucked me out. Sad. Anyway, keep reviewing!**

**beckybabe: Yeah, I liked the idea. It was good. Squid's is slightly different, but I might use some of the others. Sadly, my computer WON'T LET me upload this chapter (I've been trying to upload it for a week). Oh well, please keep reviewing and giving suggestions!**

**Anime Girl23: Post your Magnet story soon! I'll review it! OK, because you gave me a review so quickly for this chapter, I'll tell you what Magnet was saying in Spanish.**

**_Mierda santa_: Holy crap**

**_El hijo terco de una ramera_: Stubborn son of a bitch**

**_Joda la mierda de desgraciado de mierda ramera bastarda_: Um… just a random stream of swear words.**

**Wow, I used a whole page writing shoutouts to reviewers!**

**So… next chapter up! And I have 2 weeks left of maths and computing… ever! Yeah, I'm so happy! And I like all the subjects I'm taking for my Highers next year, so it's all good! Please don't flame and spoil my happy mood! I don't mind criticism, as long as it's constructive, and I'm always open to suggestions.**

**This chappie is dedicated to Super Ninja Nydia for supporting me in my stressful-examness, and being nice, and also to Anime Girl23 for reviewing so nicely and quickly!**

**One more thing – is GBH a crime in America? Or is it called battery or something? GBH is Grievous Bodily Harm, which is basically battering someone. I'm just curious, for future reference.**

**IOIOIOI**

The boys sat in a circle, legs crossed like schoolkids. In the centre was a biro pen, which Zero had found under one of the sofas.

"OK, so someone's going to spin the pen, and then they get to ask whoever it points to any question they like."

Squid was taking charge. Even X-Ray had sat down and listened to him. Nobody was laughing or taking the piss. They were all taking it seriously. It was one of these things that you'd never be caught dead doing in your normal life, but it didn't seem strange when you were with these people.

"Who'll go first?" Caveman asked, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands like a little kid, "Like to spin the… pen."

Everyone looked at Squid for an answer. Squid just shrugged.

"Zig, I guess," he said, "Since he went first. And his secret was pretty huge. I mean, not everybody would confess to being a fag."

"I wasn't a fag!" Zigzag protested, biting his knuckle, "I was just gay for a while. It's better then being closeted."

He gave Squid a pointful look and, in return, Squid gave him a hard slap round the head.

"I'm not closeted!" he snapped, "I'm straight, thank you very much! I've got a girlfriend, you know. Well, I did. I have had."

Zigzag didn't appear to be at all hurt by Squid's slap. Must've been cushioned by all his hair. "Dude, you're so closeted, you _are_ the closet!" he replied with a grin. Squid folded his arms defiantly.

"I'm straighter than you, fag!" he growled.

"Yeah, but I've had a boyfriend, haven't I? So you could be straighter than me, but still gay!"

Squid narrowed his eyes.

"I'm. Not. Gay!" he said slowly and pointfully. Zigzag just wiggled his eyebrows, making everyone else laugh. This made Squid madder.

"What do I have to do to convince you jerks?" he snapped, glaring at each of them in turn. This just made everyone laugh harder.

"_Mierda santa_, talk about denial!" Magnet laughed. Squid punched the wall in frustration.

"I'm not gay!" be bellowed finally. Everyone stopped laughing and stared at him.

"Calm down man, we were just joking about!" Armpit said, "You don't need to take it personally."

Squid sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, dudes," he said, "It's just kind of a touchy subject. A… a girl once broke up with me because she thought I was gay."

X-Ray sat back on his heels.

"I sense a story," he grinned. Everyone looked at Squid expectantly, and he sighed.

"It's no big deal," he said, "I just had this girlfriend, and her friends didn't like me. And my best mate, Mike, didn't like her. So… um… they convinced her I was gay so that she'd break up with me."

"Good friends," Caveman muttered. Squid raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I don't know about her friends – Kelly and Melanie kinda had a reputation for being bitches. But they were loyal bitches. They were nice to people they liked. I really don't get why they did that to her. But Mike – he was my best friend. He never hated my girlfriends. Even if they didn't get on, he tried to like them."

"How did they manage to convince her you were gay?" Armpit asked, "Wouldn't she think they were just taking the piss? I mean, I would."

"Nah," Squid said, "She'd believe anything those bitches told her. And with Mike helping make up stories, she was convinced. One day, she just came up to me, and she was all 'I'm sorry, Alan, but Mike told me about you.' And I thought she meant something else, and then she found out that I had other girlfriends by accident, and she slapped me and it fucking hurt!"

"You had other girlfriends?" Magnet sounded shocked, "Then you deserved to get dumped."

"Well, not really," Squid protested, frowning, "I was going to tell her eventually. I guess I just enjoyed the attention of four girls at the same time."

"Four?" X-Ray sounded shocked, "Dude, back home, I'd be happy to have one!"

"Well, I didn't like cheating on them, but I didn't want to hurt their feelings by turning them down. I've never been good at that."

"You're telling us that you had _four_ girlfriends, because you didn't want to hurt their feelings?" Caveman said, sounding shocked, "Man, you are so stupid!"

"I'm not stupid," Squid muttered, practically sticking out his lower lip and sucking his thumb. He was getting a bit pissed off at everyone having a go at him, "And anyway, I wasn't the bad guy in that story. How many of you have had your best friend turning against you, and your girlfriend, and all her friends?"

Everyone just looked at him and shook their heads. Squid folded his arms across his chest sulkily.

"I don't see what you're all judging me for!" he snapped, "At least I didn't pretend to be gay! And at least I'm not engaged at the age of fifteen! And at least I didn't…"

He looked at X-Ray, who bit his lip.

"Don't even say it," he threatened. He sounded so dangerous that Squid shut his mouth and sulked for a while. Everyone sat in a cold, awkward silence, all thinking of a way to break it.

"_The sun'll come out tomorrow…"_ Zigzag started singing quietly. Everyone started at him like he'd gone nuts. And maybe he had.

"What're you singing for, you prat?" X-Ray asked.

"_Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow…" _Zigzag sang as a reply. After a confused silence, Magnet laughed and joined in.

"_There'll be sun_…"

"_Just thinking about tomorrow_…" joined in Armpit.

"_Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow, till there's none_…" Zero and Caveman laughed. Zigzag grinned and sang louder.

"_When I'm stuck with a day that's grey and lonely_…"

Everyone turned at stared at Squid and X-Ray. X-Ray just folded his arms and shook his head slightly.

"Don't make us force you," Zigzag teased in a singsong voice. There was a silence as the two of them stood there defiantly. Finally, Squid grinned.

"_I just stick out my chin_…"

"_And grin and say_…" everyone else chorused in X-Ray's face, urging him to join in. Still he remained defiant.

"_The sun'll come out tomorrow, so you better hang on till tomorrow_…" they all grinned. Everyone looked at X-Ray expectantly. He sighed.

"_Come what may_…" he sung. Everyone cheered.

"_Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow_," they chorused happily, "_You're always a day away!"_

A round of applause came from outside the door. Clearly, a crowd had formed outside, drawn by their singing. All the boys burst out laughing.

"What was with that, Zig?" Magnet laughed.

Zigzag shook his head. "I dunno. My mom always told me that the best thing to do in a fight was sing. Guess she was right."

The two boys looked at everyone else. They were all laughing, almost hysterically, the uncomfortableness of the previous moment gone and forgotten about.

Magnet smiled to himself. He was starting to think that Zigzag sometimes knew what he was talking about. Sometimes. The rest of the time he was still a nutjob.

**IOIOIOI**

**Well there's a short, weird chappie for you. Not as good as the others, because I'm running out of ideas, so I'm open to any of yours. Please review, dear friends. Constructive criticism is always welcome, but make it CONSTRUCTIVE dammit!**

**JAR**


	4. Nobody Wants To Date A Geek

**dorkyduck: Wow, long review! Awesome! Yeah, oops, I did call Squid Ricky. I always get them mixed up. Um… can't be bothered to change it. Just filter it out when you read it. But thanks for pointing that out. Keep reviewing!**

**beckybabe: Nah, Squid's not closeted. It's just one of those cheap jokes people have with their friends. You know, when you tease your friends about being gay? I think I might have more gay stuff (but not slash), because Squid's becoming a bit of a homophobe. Keep reviewing!**

**Anime Girl23: I'll try and give you translations for anything else Magnet says in future :) though I don't actually speak Spanish. I just have a good translator. Lol. Lucky you, being on holiday! I'm going back to school after two weeks tomorrow! And then there's two weeks till exams! I hate May! I'm really sorry to hear about the death :(**

**Crystalized Chaos: Glad you like it. Please keep reading and reviewing!**

**HPSmallCharm29: Wow! Glad to find another Khleo Thomas fan! I used to be painfully obsessed with him. Then I discovered Jensen Ackles. Google him, he's HOT! Ahem… anyway… I'll put some good Zero stuff in soon… I hope. As long as you keep reviewing!**

**Im a Pirana: Aaaah! People keep changing their names! Confuzzlement! Ah, glad you liked the singing. I wasn't sure how people would take that.**

**SamSammySamantha: Glad it's more IC. I tend to suck at Fanfictions, taking over the characters too much. Let me know if it goes OOC again ) Ziggy may sing again. I think people liked it!**

**Midnight226: Glad you like :D**

**JayJay3493: I always thought Kyle was the kind of name that a gay person would have. Maybe I'm a stereotyper. Sue me (if you can find me). Glad you like this though. **

**Bunnies Will Kill Us All: Ah, sorry but I don't write slash. But if you write some MagZig slash, I promise I'll read it. Glad you like it, keep reading. Lots of chapters to go!**

**MrsPiccolosWife: Glad you like the singing. To be honest, I just needed something to fill up space and it was something my friends and I do sometimes. Keep reading!**

**Mannerheim: Glad you like it, esp the singing. Sorry this update isn't as soon as I would like it, but I'm not right in the middle of my exams (I've got English in 2 hours) AND I got writer's block. But glad you like, and keep reviewing!**

**kljkljlL: You didn't tell me what happens if I don't paste that. Not that I'm going to post it, but I'm curious.**

**Right, well I'm back! In the middle of exams now. One in two hours. But on the bright side, I'm dropping maths and French! Wahoo! But I'll try and update as fast as possible. 32 reviews! Thank you very much, all my kind reviewers!**

**This chappie is dedicated to _beckybabe _for being so wonderful and _Bunnies Will Kill Us All_ for the love!**

**IOIOIOI**

The boys had taken a long time to get to sleep in the rec room. There were several fights over who got to sleep on a sofa, but they eventually lay down and tried to sleep.

X-Ray, naturally, got one of the sofas. The other two were taken by Zigzag (whose gangly limbs were sprawling all over the place, taking up more than just the sofa) and Armpit. Squid managed to fashion a weird, makeshift-y bed out of a rug and a tattered cushion, and was lying curled up. Magnet was slouched in one of the corners, sitting upright, but fast asleep.

Caveman was the only one who was still awake. Zero was fast asleep beside him, his head on Caveman's lap. Caveman thought of pushing him off, but decided against it. Zero looked so peaceful there. Almost… sweet.

Wait – sweet? He had never thought about another guy as sweet before!

Was he gay? Caveman had wondered about that before. Maybe that was why he couldn't get a girlfriend at school. But he was sure he wasn't. He had never felt attracted to another guy before. Not even in a don't-knock-it-till-you've-tried-it way like Zigzag. But, though he would never admit it, sometimes he wished he was.

He hadn't really wished this at school, but since he'd ended up at Camp Greenlake, he kind of did. He was surrounded by these really cool guys with really cool lives. He wasn't like that. He was an average, fairly smart kid, with an average family and an average life. He didn't have a weird family, like Magnet, or some cool secret, like Zigzag, or a special way with girls, like Squid. He didn't even have a great personality. He was a grey person, with a grey personality and a grey life.

He was hoping, possibly more than everyone that they'd get out of this room soon. Before someone asked him about his life. What could he tell them? That he was an average kid who got good grades and got bullied for it?

These guys thought these problems. At least they were interesting!

**IOIOIOI**

Waking up was an ordeal. Caveman woke up at five, happy to get a lie-in, to see Zero sitting at the door like a puppy.

"Come on, Hector!" Caveman called, "You're supposed to be happy at getting a day off digging holes. Make the most of it!"

Zero shrugged. "Guess it's weird for me," he murmured, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room and examining the sleeping bodies of the others.

"No… I… I don't…" Squid was talking in his sleep. He tossed and turned, covering his face with his hands.

"What's with that?" Zero asked. Caveman shrugged.

"Probably dreaming about one of his many, many, _many_ girlfriends," he said, rolling his eyes, "Can you believe him, with that many girls at one time? I'd be happy to get one!"

"Stanley," Zero said softly, "Have you ever had a girlfriend? Like, ever?"

Caveman was tempted to lie. Tell Zero he's had millions of girlfriends. Admitting that he'd never had a girlfriend at sixteen was pretty embarrassing. But he couldn't lie. Not just because he didn't want to lie to Zero, but also because his face had gone a similar colour to a raspberry, and it wouldn't be pretty damn obvious that he was lying.

"No," he sighed. Zero shook his head sadly.

"Never? Dude, you went to a high school! Surely there was _someone_ who'd date you!"

"There wasn't, ok!" Caveman snapped, pulling his knees up to his chest and glaring at the floor, "I was a geek! Nobody wants to date a geek!"

Zero shrugged. "At least you had the chance to," Zero said, "I never really met a lot of girls. There were a few in orphanages and on the street or whatever, but…"

"Can we change the subject?" Caveman butted in, his face getting redder by the second.

"Fine!" said Zero, "Tell me one of your secrets. You know, like those other guys did. It's better if you get it out while all the others are asleep than in front of them."

Caveman was silent.

"Come on, dude," Zero urged, "I'm not going to tell anyone. And I'll tell those other guys that you've already told me, so you don't have to tell them."

"I don't… I don't have any secrets," Caveman muttered, "Nothing ever happens to me. I have a normal life, all right? A normal, _boring_ life!"

Zero said nothing, giving Caveman an intrigued look.

"The sun'll come out… tomorrow…" Zigzag muttered in his sleep, breaking the silence.

"So… nothing's ever happened to you that you'd rather keep quiet?" Zero asked, "Man, I wish I had that."

"I live with my parents and my grandfather, and they're just normal. We're pretty poor, but we earn enough to survive. I went to a normal high school. I had a couple of friends. No girlfriends. I got bullied. Some shoes landed on my head, and I got sent here. There you go. My life in seven sentences."

"Dude, you're sixteen, and already more stuff's happened to you than most people!" Zero insisted, "You've been in a juvenile work camp! You've been arrested for a crime you didn't commit!"

"But that's nothing compared to these guys," Caveman argued. Zero sighed. He flung his shoe at Armpit, waking him.

"What the…" he bellowed, jumping up. His shouting woke everyone else, and they all slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

"What's up, Pit?" Squid grumbled, stretching,

"That little bastard woke me up!" Armpit complained, rubbing his head where the shoe had hit him.

"What's up, Zero?" X-Ray asked, surprisingly un-annoyed at being woken at five AM. But then again, to these guys, that was a lie in.

"Can someone tell Stanley that having his life is a good thing?" Zero said. Everyone looked a bit confused. "He's stressing that his life is boring compared to you guys'," he explained. Squid couldn't help laughing.

"Dude, you can swap with me any time!" he said, "You even had two parents! That's pretty cool. My dad walked out when I was a kid! Would you rather have that?"

Caveman shook his head, blushing furiously. He wished Zero had kept his mouth shut.

"Are you saying you want to be gay?" Armpit asked, giving Zigzag a sideways glance. Everyone looked at Zigzag, who shrugged.

"Nothin' wrong with it," he said lightly, "You're just a bunch of homophobes!"

Everyone ignored him.

"So, why do you want an interesting life?" X-Ray pressed. Caveman's face went, if it was possible, even redder.

"I just…"

"_Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up_…" Zigzag began to sing softly.

"Shut it, fag!" snapped Squid. Zigzag just grinned cockily and winked at him, singing louder.

"_In the morning when the day is new_…"

"Shut _up_!" X-Ray, Squid and magnet chorused. Zigzag drew his fingers across his mouth as if he was zipping it shut.

"Right, so you're upset that your life isn't as interesting as ours?" Magnet said, returning to Caveman, who had been hoping like hell that they would keep their attention on Zigzag.

"It's just that you all have these stories to tell," he said, "About being gay, or engaged or whatever. I have nothing. I haven't even had a girlfriend!"

X-Ray blew out his breath.

"Though you went out with a chick called Alexis?" he said, "I heard you talking to Zero about her."

Caveman's face was now the colour of a beetroot. A ripe one.

"No… um… my brother went out with her," he said, a little too quickly.

"You're an only child," Zero pointed out quietly. Everyone stared at Caveman. He looked absolutely terrified.

"Can… can we sing now, or something?" he asked, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"_And after spending the day together_…" Zigzag sang happily. Everyone sighed, and Squid lunged at him, knocking him to the ground and covering his mouth.

"No singing 'til Caveman tells us what's up with Alexis," he ordered. Caveman looked like he was about to throw up. He muttered something which was barely audible.

"What was that, dude?" Armpit asked, leaning in.

"She was a dude," he muttered, refusing to look at any of them. X-Ray stared at him with a kind of amazed entertainment.

"She was what?" he said, trying not to laugh, though it was more with shock than anything else.

"Well I didn't know," Caveman said, biting his lip, "She had a sex change. She didn't tell me until we'd been dating for a month. I broke up with her… him… once I found out."

He looked like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world than right there, and right now. And that included digging holes in the boiling sun. Hey, Egypt sounds nice.

"And you said you didn't have a story to tell!" Armpit said. Caveman said nothing. Who would?

There was a silence.

"Can we sing now?" Zigzag asked, to break the silence, "Because I think Caveman might cry if we stare at him any longer."

"I'm not going to…" Caveman tried to protest, but he was broken off by Zigzag who had started singing again.

"_Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up, in the morning when the day is new_…"

Everyone sighed, before joining in.

"_And after having spent the day together, hold each other close the whole night through_…"

Caveman couldn't have been more grateful to Zigzag. Even if he was nuts.

**IOIOIOI**

**There you go, more singing for those who liked it. That song came into my head and I had to get it out. I've just realised that this story has a lot of plays on the title. As in "coming out". Zigzag coming out. And the song "the sun'll come out". Didn't notice that before. Just wondering if any of the rest of you did.**

**Anyway, please keep reviewing. Sorry this took so long to get up. Damn writer's block. But it should be fine now, because I've only got four exams to do, and I've finished my English, whish was the one I was really stressing about.**

**Ideas welcome. Keep the criticism CONSTRUCTIVE! And remember, don't drink and drive, don't drop litter and save energy by turning off lights when you go out of a room.**

**Unless there's someone else in there.**

**JAR**


	5. Going Stir Crazy

**dreamer 3097: I'm glad you like this. I just thought it would be something different. Keep reviewing!**

**SamSammySamantha: Don't kill Squid! He's lovely! I think he's a bit OOC here, because I'm making him a bit angsty and moody. But oh well. Nobody's complained yet. Glad you liked it, and that you could FEEL Caveman's embarrassment. I loved writing that bit. I would be embarrassed too! You'll be proud I kept my grades up – straight As, apart from one nasty little B!**

**beckybabe: Ooh, that's a cool idea! I can just see Zero being a pimp, can't you? Glad you still like it!**

**Crystalized Chaos: I'm glad you like it. you know what? I can't wait to find out more secrets about them too. Because I have no idea what they are until about halfway through the chapter when I had a custard-induced brainwave. I really should lay off the coffee-custard.**

**Trix are for kids: Wow, I'm glad you like it. I'll write if you READ!**

**dorkyduck: Hey, friend! That's quite sinister "I was waiting for this". But I'll let you off because I like you. Yeah, Alexis was originally a dude. I got the idea off Ugly Betty (ever seen it? I'm addicted!). tata!**

**Midnight226: Thanks for the review, glad you like it. don't ask about the sex change thing. I need to stop watching Ugly Betty,**

**Anime Girl23: Yeah, I can imagine it was weird for Caveman when he found out. Definitely something I'd have wanted kept secret. Keep reviewing, and I'll keep translating Magnet's Spanish!**

**MrsPiccolosWife: Wow, thanks! And thatnks for the luck too – good luck with yours! I've actually finished my exams now, and I go back to school tomorrow (starting 5th year! Nooo!)**

**ArabellaKye: Thanks. Glad you like it. and thanks for the review on my other fic too! I checked your profile, you seem pretty cool. And about the whole boring-name-meaning thing you mentioned on your profile, mine means 'lily', so I'm there with you all the way in that way. Keep reviewing!**

**beckybabe: Trix are for Kids is YOU? Hey, I didn't know that. I guess I'll have a read then. Interesting idea, too.**

**HPSmallCharm29: Another Jensen Ackles fan! Wahey! I'm becoming slightly obsessed with him. Glad you like, and don't worry about taking a while to review. I took FOREVER to get this chapter up!**

**CAMERAxWHORE: Cool name! Glad you like it, keep reviewing!**

**Im a Pirana: Aw, your life can't be too depressing. You ever dated a tranny? If so, then I'll accept that your life is as depressing as Caveman's. Glad you like it!**

**Thundaspell: Glad you like Hope you like the rest.**

**ComicChick396: I'm updating as fast as I can! Which, admittedly, isn't that fast but… sue me. Question about your name – is it comics as in comic books, or comic as in comedy?**

**select: Glad you liked that bit, I generally suck at writing similes. They're always too clichéd or sarcastic. But thanks for the support!**

**Phew! Think that's it, but let me know if I've forgotten you, I'm not very organised!**

**Wow, sorry about the long, long time I took to update this, but I had to finish my exams, then I was in London with my friends, then I was somewhere dull with my family, then I had my big cousin's wedding and, long story short, I haven't had a lot of writing time.**

**A big thank you to all my lovely reviewers. This chappie is dedicated to Crystalized Chaos, for being so nice (and setting off my spellchecker with her name!) and SamSammySamantha for giving me really long, interesting reviews to read!**

**Chapter 5 now up! I'm really enjoying writing this fic (even though I seem to get my ideas from custard, and am therefore putting on weight from writing it) and I hope you're all enjoying it! So… Armpit's the next victim!**

**IOIOIOI**

The next morning was pretty damn uncomfortable. Caveman was too embarrassed to speak to anyone, and everyone else was almost afraid to open their mouths, in case a secret came spilling out. It had happened to everyone else.

X-Ray, however, was still up for finding out stuff about the others. He was enjoying it. it was like a soap opera, but without the TV. All he needed was for one of the others so say something, anything, which he could twist until they told him something. Hey, he would be a good cop!

Sadly, everyone was pretty quiet. Sighing, X-Ray tapped his foot and glared at everybody.

"Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time…" Zigzag began to sing in a desperate attempt to break the ice.

"_Shut up_!" yelled Squid, and he sounded so pissed off that Zigzag, for once, obliged, and they once again sunk into an uncomfortable silence.

"I don't see what the big deal is," X-Ray said finally, "Why's everyone so scared to admit to something? We've already had someone admitting to being a fag…"

"_Ex_ fag!" interrupted Zigzag. X-Ray ignored him.

"…someone admitting to being more or less a man whore…"

"Hey!" Squid protested.

"…someone admitting to being engaged…"

"Betrothed," Magnet corrected.

"Whatever. Someone admitting to being _betrothed_ at fourteen…"

"Fifteen," Magnet butted in again.

"Would you guys shut up and stop interrupting me?" X-Ray sighed, "I'm trying to make a point! So we've got someone who's admitted to _being_ gay at some point, someone who was _betrothed_ at _fifteen_, and someone who was _not_ a man whore but still had a lot of girlfriends, and someone who dated a dude."  
Everyone looked at Caveman, expecting him to make some kind of correction like the others, but he just blushed bright red and looked away.

"So what's the big deal?" X-Ray went on, "There's not much that's going to shock us unless you've stabbed your own mum or something."

Just then, incredibly unfortunately for him, Armpit made a small choking sound. Everyone whipped round and stared at him. He was going, if possible, redder than poor Caveman, who was still suffering from the "dated a dude" fiasco.

"You stabbed your mum?" Squid asked with what could have been a grin on his lips. Armpit turned and glared at X-Ray with so much malice that X-Ray actually took a step back, looking genuinely worried.

"I can't believe you told them!" Armpit snarled.

"Sorry man," X-Ray said, and he sounded it, "I… I totally forgot. I wasn't meaning you. You didn't even properly…"

"Last time I trust you with anything!" Armpit snapped, turning away from X-Ray and folding his arms across his chest. Normally, if the door hadn't been jammed, Armpit would have stormed off and immaturely refused to speak to X-Ray for several weeks.

However, this wasn't the case. There was nowhere for him to storm off to, save the other side of the pool table, and besides, the room was full of curious, slightly insane teenage boys. Poor Armpit didn't have a chance.

"You stabbed your mum?" Squid repeated, prompting someone to build a bit on that.

"Not really," Armpit sighed, plonking himself on the ground, still refusing to spare X-Ray a glance, "We just had a fight, and I threw a screwdriver at her and it stuck in her arm. I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Mmm," Squid mumbled, considering this for a minute, "What were you fighting about?"

"She was mad because I'd been caught stealing from school. She said she was fed up, and was going to throw me out. Well, she definitely threw me out after that."

Everyone assessed him carefully, apart from X-Ray, who was still feeling guilty about blurting about Armpit's secret. After all, Armpit had trusted him. And he already knew that secret, so it wasn't even that interesting to him.

"What were you stealing from school?" Squid pressed.

"Look, what's with the fifth degree?" Armpit snapped.

"It's third deg…" X-Ray pointed out automatically, but quickly shut up after Armpit shot him a killer glare.

"So… you stabbed your mum," Magnet said in a summing up way, just in case Armpit wasn't uncomfortable enough already.

"Accidentally," Armpit mumbled.

"Is it just me?" Caveman said thoughtfully, speaking for the first time since his ultimate humiliation over the dated-a-dude thing, "Or does this seem so much less shocking than all the other stuff? You know, stabbing your mum's a pretty big thing, but I was more shocked about the other stuff that's not really as big."

"Dude's got a point," Magnet said, nodding, "Even Armpit doesn't seem to care that much."

"Yeah he does," Squid argued, "His face's bright red."

"That's just the heat," Magnet protested.

"The heat my ass!" Squid snapped.

"Keep your ass out of this, _puta_!" Magnet replied, just as snappily.

"I'll put my ass wherever I want!" Squid retorted, not the best of comebacks.

"I'm sure you would, fag!" Magnet growled.

"Shut up!" cut in Armpit, stepping in between the two boys and glaring at Squid and Magnet respectively. They both stared at him dumbly.

Zero watched everyone quietly from the sofa. Armpit was glaring at Magnet and Squid, who both looked a bit confused. Caveman was sitting nearby, hugging his knees to his chest and looking like he wanted to disappear, Zigzag was sitting next to him, watching the argument with the same fascination that he usually reserved for his TV, and X-Ray hung back, looking slightly taken aback. He had probably never hung back from anything in his life. That was when it dawned on Zero what was actually going on.

Armpit didn't care about the whole stabbing-his-mum thing much. well, he did, but he didn't care about the others knowing. What was bugging him was that X-Ray had told them. Usually, when you tell your friend something in confidence, you want it to stay that way. He knew how Armpit felt. He would hate it if Stanley told anyone some of the stuff he'd told him.

"S'up, Zero?" Zigzag asked, looking at him curiously. Zero realised just how spaced-out he must have been looking. Not that Zigzag should mind, but you never knew with that guy.

"Nothing," Zero mumbled. Everyone immediately shrugged and turned back to Armpit and the others.

"Why're you guys yelling at each other?" Armpit snapped, "There's no reason for either of _you_ to be pissed off!"

He shot a sideways glance at X-Ray, who avoided catching his eye.

"Why're _you_ pissed off at X?" Squid shot back, "He didn't mean to say that?" He pulled his do-rag off and ran a hand through his messy dark hair. "Man, we're all going stir crazy in here! I need to get the hell out!"

He kicked the door angrily again, before looking at Zigzag.

"Dude, can you like… sing or something, before the tension here actually explodes?"

Zigzag crossed his arms across his chest and pouted, clearly not wanting to be left out of the whole stir-crazy-fighting-with-each-other thing that everyone else had going.

"Dan't want to you after you called me a fag," he sulked. Squid sighed, running his hand through his hair again exasperatedly.

"Dude, I call you a fag all the time!" he sighed. Slowly, Zigzag's normal dizzy smile returned to his face.

"Since I love you," he said, grinning further at Squid's disgusted look.

For once, everyone sat expectantly, waiting for Zig to sing.

"Well, it's not going to come to me if you're all _staring_ at me," he snapped. Everyone rolled their eyes and looked away, chatting idly to each other as he sat there with a grin playing on his lips.

"Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time…" Zigzag sang finally. Relieved, Squid joined in.

"I feel ali-I-I-ive…"

"And the world is turning inside out, yeah…" Caveman and Zero joined in, grinning to each other in that knowing way that annoyed the hell out of the others.

"Rolling around in ecstasy…" Magnet joined in, nudging Armpit and glancing pointedly at X-Ray.

"So don't stop me now…" the chorused reluctantly.

"Don't stop me cause I'm having a good time, I don't want to stop at all…"

Squid shuddered to himself. He was spending too much time with Zigzag. He really was turning into a fag.

**IOIOIOIOI**

**That's it. sorry for the crapness of this, and the long wait, but a multitude of factors meant that it took me a while. Ah well, almost straight As for my exams, and I got to dye my hair bright red, so I'm happy!**

**I may have to stop writing shoutouts to reviewers, cause it takes too long, but I'll probably reply privately to them so please keep reviewing!!!!!**

**Rock out, my Holes-loving friends.**

**JAR**


	6. Why I Don't Talk

X-Ray still wasn't in Armpit's good books by that evening. The atmosphere was absolutely ice cold, so much that Zero actually felt himself shiver. He sat on the floor of the rec room and watched everyone.

People didn't know it, but Zero knew most of them as well as they knew themselves. Six months of sitting there silently, watching everything that went on would do that to you. He knew that Squid had always been a bit condescending of Zigzag, and wasn't at all surprised that he used to be gay. He knew that Magnet actually thought Stanley was pretty cool, but Stanley was terrified of all of them. He knew that Armpit had looked up to X-Ray, and felt totally let down when he'd blurted out that secret.

Perhaps it was because Zero knew so much about the others that he was so cagey himself. He figured that if he could work out things like that, then there was a big chance that they could work stuff out about him. And he had some things that he didn't want them finding out.

Still, now that they were stuck in the rec room and secrets were pouring out like oxygen, he was getting worried. His own secrets were seriously in danger of not remaining secrets for much longer. Caveman had already pressed him a few times for them, and he didn't think he could hold up for much longer.

The pen had returned, and they were sitting cross-legged like schoolkids in a circle. They had spun it a few times, but not much had come out so far. The name of Squid's first girlfriend, X-Ray's major crush on a girl called Joanna, who was painfully racist, but nothing really embarrassing.

X-Ray spun the pen. Everyone waited with less than baited breath for it to stop. Finally, it stopped on Zero. His heart sank. X-Ray fixed his cola-bottle glasses, thinking.

"Why don't you talk?" he asked finally. Everyone looked at each other, nodding approvingly. They'd all been wondering it. Now was just a good excuse to find out.

"Yeah Zero, why don't you talk?" Squid pressed, drawing his knees up to his chest and rocking back slightly, a barely disguised smile playing on his lips. Zero felt his stomach churn. Everyone's eyes were on him, taunting him. He felt so naked.

"I…" he stuttered, "I guess I just…"

"Leave him be," interrupted Caveman, jumping in to protect his friend, as always, "He's not hurting anyone."

"Ooh, somebody's suddenly very talkative," Squid teased, "We were only kidding about. No need to get all defensive! You know, I would have thought Zig was more of your type than Zero."

Caveman's face returned to a bright strawberry, and he sank back. Zero suddenly felt a jolt of anger rushing through him. Caveman always got given shit for standing up for him.

"Come on, Zero," Magnet pressed, sitting back on his heels, "What happened to feisty Zero we saw before? Why don't you ever talk?"

Zero bit his lip. What was he supposed to tell them? That he had sat there silently for six months, watching them, and knew so much about them that it scared him that they might find out that much about him? Or that he had so many secrets that he was terrified that one of them would slip out?

He thought about the other guys' secrets. They weren't really that big, if you though about it. Yeah, Caveman's was embarrassing – really embarrassing – and Squid's didn't put him in the best light, or Armpit's, but there was nothing big. Zero was the youngest out of all of them at fourteen, but he was pretty sure that he was the only one who wasn't a virgin - apart from possibly Squid - the only one who had ever lived on the streets, the only one who had ever had to fight for food and definitely the only one who had ever seen someone die. Then there was the matter of Ruth.

Ruth had been Zero's best friend for years, when he was still Hector. He had met her in a children's home aged nine, and they had been damn near inseparable. When he ran away from the home, she went with him. She was his first, and pretty much only, love.

"Well, Zero?" X-Ray pressed.

"If Zero doesn't want to talk, can we sing?" Zigzag asked, bobbing up and down happily. Zero was jealous of Zigzag. He was always so damn happy.

"No we can't, you closeted fag!" snapped Squid. Zero frowned. He really needed to get his facts straight. Luckily, Zigzag set him straight.

"Get it right, dude!" he said happily, "It's _un_-closeted _ex_-fag!"

He folded his arms triumphantly across his chest as if he'd made a damn good point. Squid opened his mouth to argue, but realised that Zigzag actually _had_ made a damn good point, so he shut up.

"So…" Magnet turned his eyes back to Zero, who had been hoping they'd forgotten about him, and gave him an expectant look. Zero just shrugged.

"I've never really needed to," he said simply, "And when you speak when you've got nothing to say, all sorts of shit comes pouring out."

X-Ray opened his mouth to say something, then stopped. Everyone was glancing around at each other, confused. Whatever Zero had said, he had a point, but they weren't sure what it was.

"You're… scared you're going to say something stupid, like everyone else did," Caveman translated, looking at him questioningly. Zero almost smiled. It was pretty neat having someone around to translate for him. He'd never had somebody like that since Ruth.

She'd follow him about everywhere, not that he minded. They were pretty near inseparable, and she always knew exactly what he was saying. She totally got him.

"What's so bad that you're terrified to talk in case you tell us?" Squid asked, drumming his fingers irritatingly on the floor.

Zero bit his lip again. They were all staring at him expectantly. He had to give them something; he knew that, but what?

He thought about Ruth. He thought about how much he had loved her. He thought about the first time he'd slept with her, when he was only thirteen. He thought about the blazing row they'd had, and how he'd stormed out, screaming that he didn't want to see her again.

"Come on Zero, give us something!" Magnet begged.

Zero thought about the fight he'd got into with some guy who he'd tried to pickpocket. He thought about how violent it got.

"Are you OK, Hector?" Caveman muttered to him. With a start, Zero realised that there were tears glistening in his eyes.

"I'm fine," he muttered, wiping his eyes violently.

"Tell us, Zero!" X-Ray pressed.

A lump formed in Zero's throat as he thought of the guy pulling a knife on him, lunging towards him with wild eyes. He thought of Ruth running towards them, screaming. He thought of the guy running off without looking back.

"Zero?" prompted Armpit.

Zero thought of the way he'd cheered and rushed to Ruth, shouting _thanks, Ruth! Oh my God, did you see his face? Look, I'm sorry about..._ He thought of her suddenly lurching forward, knocking him to the ground. He remembered pushing her off him so he could move, and feeling a jolt of fear and anger shoot through him as he saw the guy's knife sticking out of her chest at an almost comical angle.

"Come on Zero," came Stanley's voice in his ear, "Just give them something to shut them up."

He remembered how he'd grabbed her and pulled her towards him. He thought about her warm blood soaking his shirt, and his own tears soaking his face.

"Just tell them about you getting in here for stealing the shoes or something," Caveman whispered.

He thought about the sirens coming, but how he had just knelt there, cradling Ruth's body and sobbing uncontrollably. He had told the guys that he was in there for stealing a pair of shoes. He had never told them that he was there for manslaughter.

"There must be something!" Zigzag pressed.

Zero thought. There was something. He knew there was. There was Ruth, his first love, his first time, and the reason he was in there. He took a deep breath and looked them all in the eye in turn.

"I'm illiterate," he said finally.

"Bummer," Zigzag commented, and Zero nodded in agreement, trying to look like it was a huge thing to him.

After all, there were some things he didn't want people to know.

**IOIOIOIOI**

They sat there, telling stupid secrets for hours, like little girls at a slumber party. They sat there for so long that they didn't realise how late it was until they heard the siren over the PA, signifying that it was time for the other tents to get up.

"_Good morning, good morning…"_ Zigzag began to sing, far too chirpily for someone at four AM.

"Hold it right there, gay boy!" Squid cut in, "I think we've got to draw the line somewhere, and I'm drawing the line at showtunes!"

"You let me sing _Tomorrow_," Zigzag pouted. Squid sighed.

"That was different. It's a classic."

"Classic?" Zigzag snorted, "And you call _me_ a fag, you closet!"

"I have a little sister!" Squid protested, "Of course I know it's a classic!"

Zigzag ignored this, instead grinning, and chanting "Closet, closet, closet…"

Squid snarled quietly, and looked so dangerous that Zigzag shut up and sulked for a minute.

"What do you want to sing then?" he asked Squid, pouting like a five-year-old.

Squid shrugged and – Zero was sure – blushed.

"Well if you don't answer, then I choose!" Zigzag grinned.

"_I don't feel like dancing when the old Joanna plays_," he sang with a massive smile on his face. Squid sighed.

"I can't win, can I?" he mumbled.

"Nope," Zigzag answered, "_My heart can take a chance but my two feet can't find a way…_"

"I can't believe how much of a fag you are," Squid muttered.

"_You'd think that I could muster up a little soft shoe gentle sway…_" Zigzag sang pointedly.

"I can't believe how much of a fag _I'm_ turning into," Squid sighed, "_But I don't feel like dancing, no sir, no dancing today_."

"You have arrived!" Zigzag whooped, hugging him. Squid hurriedly pushed him off.

"OK dude, I'll sing, but _no_ touching me!"

Everyone else laughed. They knew they had lost the battle over singing to Zigzag long ago and, to be honest, they didn't care.

_"Don't feel like dancing, dancing…"_

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

**There you go. That was a faster update! Not sure how good that was, I've never been that good at angst, and even worse at combining it with humour, so I need feedback. Remember my rule – constructive criticism is good, it's my friend! But flames are just stupid and spiteful, and I'll just delete them or report you, because my ego's too big for that!**

**I'm also needing suggestions for cheesy cheery songs for Zigzag to sing, because I'm running out. I'm mostly using my sister's music and random songs I know off the top of my head for lyrics, because most of my music won't work. I really can't see Zig singing _Don't Fear The Reaper._**

**I think there'll possibly be only a couple more chapter here, because I've got some more stuff in the pipeline, and I want time to work on that! But I hope you'll all read it!**

**This chapter's dedicated to HPSmallCharm29, because she's so LOYAL and cool!**

**Over and out for now!**

**JAR**


	7. A Final Confession Mixed With Sunshine

It was tense and awkward on their last morning of imprisonment in that damn rec room. Armpit and X-Ray were still a bit uncomfortable, though not as much since Zigzag's multiple singing outbreaks. And it had seemingly hit everyone else that they had just revealed their most embarrassing or most degrading secret to the others, and had all suddenly become very quiet.

Well, apart from Zigzag.

"Hakuna matata, what a wonderful phrase…" he was singing happily and loudly. They could hear grumbles of people passing by outside, going to collect their shovels and start the day's digging. All of D-Tent would have loved to be asleep right now – these two days should have given them a chance for a lie-in – but they couldn't. It was like they all had their own built-in alarm clock, waking them up at four AM. Not to mention that they'd been up half the night anyway.

"Hakuna matata, ain't no passing craze…"

Everyone just let Zigzag sing. Even Squid had given up trying to argue with that.

"It means no worries for the rest of your days…"

"Would you shut it, fag?"

OK, so maybe Squid hadn't _completely_ given up arguing.

There was a painfully long silence, only broken occasionally by Zigzag humming and Squid yelling at him to shut up, fag! Magnet drummed his fingers on the arm of the couch and looked round at everyone.

"Only a few more hours to go," he said, trying to break the silence. Nobody even looked at him. Armpit was glaring at X-Ray, X-Ray was desperately trying to avoid his eye for fear that his face would melt from the death glare he was being given, Caveman was staring at his feet, Zigzag was looking round dreamily and Squid was watching him with his eyebrows raised.

Magnet sighed and picked up their spinning pen and fiddled with it absently. Immediately, everyone jumped to their feet.

"Don't touch the pen!" they all yelled at him. Magnet hurriedly dropped the biro and held his hands up in a surrendering motion.

"Sorry!" he said, "But I'm bored! You're boring!"

He folded his arms across his chest and sat back, sinking back into his boredom. Of course, he knew why none of them were talking. Caveman was embarrassed, Armpit was mad, X-Ray was – amazingly – a bit scared, Zero… well, he didn't talk any way and Zigzag and Squid were hoarse from antagonising each other for two days. It was those damn secrets! It was like they were in some sort of weird story, and some crazed writer was putting words into their mouths, as hard as they fought it.

In his head, he went over all the things that had managed to slip out in those two days. Zigzag's gayness, or ex-gayness as he kept insisting, Squid's multiple girlfriends, Caveman's guy-girlfriend, Armpit's stabbing incident, Zero's illiteracy and, of course, his own weird family and his stupid betrothment thing. It was humiliating for them all. The only consolation was that they had all been humiliated, as a group. A blanket embarrassment. In fact, the only person who had seemed to avoid it was…

Magnet glanced up and looked at X-Ray.

"Hey X," he called. X-Ray looked up; glad to have something to distract him from Armpit's death stare.

"You know what?" Magnet went on, "I think you might be the only one who's not said anything stupid yet. That's not really fair."

Everyone else immediately perked up, all looking at X-Ray like predators closing in on their pray, while X-Ray looked like he wished he could return to Armpit's evils.

"Good point, Magnet," Squid said, a little too happily, "It's unfair if X is the only one to avoid that."

Everyone, even Zero, stared at X-Ray and grinned more than slightly evilly, and X-Ray actually blushed. No doubt, everyone pounced on him. Literally.

While he was being held down by Squid, Caveman, Magnet and Zigzag, X-Ray groaned. He should have seen that coming.

"Come on guys," he half pleaded, half threatened, "You all know you'll regret this later."

"Doubt it," Caveman grinned. X-Ray sighed.

"Well, just remember, I know all that shit about you guys."

Everyone stared at him blankly for a while, trying to work out if they were being blackmailed or not. Then a grin suddenly spread across Squid's face.

"Wait! I know something! I know one of X's secrets!"

He stood there grinning madly, verging on looking completely deranged, for quite a while, with everyone else waiting expectantly. Finally, Magnet felt inclined to burst Squid's bubble.

"Are you going to tell us this, or are you just going to stand there grinning at us?"

Squid pouted. "Be nice," he sulked, "Or I won't tell you."

Everyone debated this silently for a while, wondering whether X-Ray's secret was worth being nice to Squid for. Finally, they agreed (in their minds) to be nice for a while.

"Closet."

Apart from Zigzag.

Satisfied with 80 per cent of the others being nice to him, Squid gave the held-down X-Ray a grin and turned to the others. He was all set to tell them when X-Ray cut in.

"Wait!"

Everyone turned to look at him. He sighed.

"I'll tell you," he said, "It's better if I do that Squid. He'll just make up the bits he doesn't know and make me look like a total jerk."

Squid didn't protest. He had been planning to do exactly that.

"I… I'm not here for drug dealing," X-Ray said nervously. He looked abnormally terrified. Everyone just stared at him, prompting him to go on.

"I didn't really break the law at all. Well, I did… but not like…"

"Get on with it!" cut in an impatient Magnet. X-Ray sighed.

"I'm in here because there's this guy…"

For some reason, everyone looked at Zigzag, who grinned absently and shrugged.

"Nah," he said, "He doesn't set off my gay-dar."

X-Ray glared at each of them in turn and continued with his story.

"There's this guy, and he was trying to… well… he was trying to kill me."

He paused to see what everyone's reactions were. Surprisingly, none of them seemed to react that much. Perhaps it was because they'd heard so much over the past couple of days, nothing seemed weird anymore. Or maybe it was because none of them could really see X as the drug dealing type.

"Why's he trying to kill you?" Caveman asked conversationally. X-Ray's cheeks went a bit red, and nobody could miss the huge smile spreading across Squid's face.

"Um… i…" X-Ray mumbled, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but there.

"If you don't tell us, Squid will," Armpit pointed out. X-Ray took a deep breath.

"I might have… you know… sort of… slept with his little sister…" he muttered, staring intently at the floor. Magnet let out a short, sharp laugh.

"And she was how old?"

Once again, X-Ray hesitated, before grunting something inaudible. Everyone stared at him expectantly, with huge, mocking grins on their faces.

"What was that?" Armpit teased, "Didn't quite hear you."

"Fourteen, OK?" X-Ray snapped, "She was fourteen, and I was fifteen, and her brother wasn't too happy about it. they had to put me in here for protection."

"You slept with a fourteen-year-old?" Zero piped up, his eyebrows raised in genuine surprise. X-Ray sighed yet again.

"Yeah, I did, OK?" he snapped, "And she was as willing as I was! So shut up about it, OK? Just because you're a bunch of virgins!"

Zero dropped his gaze. X-Ray raised an eyebrow and stared at him.

"You're not?" he asked, half in curiosity and half in a desperate attempt to get the spotlight off him. Unfortunately, Caveman, having had experience, totally called him on it.

"Stop trying to shift the attention onto Zero!" he said, "Tell us more about this guy who wants to kill you!"

"Yeah," Squid grinned, "Do tell."

X-Ray pointed an accusing finger at him.

"You can shut up!" he snapped, "You're the one who started all this crap! If you weren't such a…"

"Hey, let's not get personal," Squid cut in, grinning, "Anyway, if you're going to get all accusing on me, it was that fag's fault." He pointed to Zigzag. "He was the one who started it all with his gayness."

"_Ex_ gayness, dude, get it right!" corrected Zigzag for what had to be the millionth time, "And stop calling me a fag!"

There was a silence as everyone decided whether to pursue the completely-humiliating-X-Ray route, or the watching-Zigzag-and-Squid-argue-about-sexualities-again route.

"Closet."

Squid and Zigzag arguing, without a doubt.

X-Ray let out a sigh of relief and sat back, watching the argument happily. He was glad the attention had returned to Zig and Squid. They were the two who didn't mind attention. Anyway, Caveman had been starting to look at him like he was some kind of paedophile. And Zero… well, nobody would ever suss out that kid, would they?

* * *

"Ow!" And Zigzag was singing again. For once, everybody else was singing along too. Even Zero. Even Squid. Because it was the hour of release. They had heard the truck of the door-fixing guys (whoever the hell they were) pull up. Mr Sir said they'd be out within an hour.

They were all high on the promise of freedom, and the prospect of no more humiliation. And, for some weird reason known only to Zigzag, their new way to celebrate… well, anything really… was to sing.

"I used to think maybe you loved me, now baby I'm sure…"

They could hear the guys coming up to the door.

"And I just can't wait till the day when you knock on my door…"

There was a lot of banging now, as the guys got to work. They sang louder to be heard over the noise of the door-fixing guys working.

"Now ever time I go for the mailbox gotta hold myself down…"

There was the sound of wood splintering. That was good. Definitely good.

"Cause I just can't wait till you write me you're coming around…"

"Ha! I knew I'd have you guys singing by the end of this!"

"I'm walking on sunshine, wo-oah!"

"Shut up, you fag, it's this freaking room. It does stuff to our minds!"

"I'm walking on sunshine, wo-oah!"

"Yeah, I know! A few more hours and who knows? Maybe you would have eventually been de-closeted!"

"I'm walking on sunshine, wo-oah!"

"Speaking of which," X-Ray interrupted the singing and arguing, "I think we'd better make a deal. What we heard in the rec room _stays_ in the rec room."

"Deal," everyone agreed.

"Keep our mouths shut or die," Magnet added, nodding.

_Bang!_

They all spun round to the light that was now flooding in through the doorway. A slightly disappointed Mr Sir stood there, his arms folded.

"Come on then, ladies," he sighed, "Let's go."

Cheering, the guys rushed from the room, running around in the sun like little kids. Only Zigzag remained in the rec room, glancing around almost sadly at the spin-the-pen pen and the sofas that they'd all fought over.

"And don't it feel good…" he sang quietly.

* * *

**The end!!!! Yeah, I know I said I'd write two more chapters, but I'm reeeaaalllly busy right now (it's my Higher year, which'll only really make sense to Scottish people).**

**So apologies for the long time between updates, and the shortness of several of the chapters, and the crazy ooc-ness of them all, and the terrible writing and the cheesy songs (can I just say those songs are** _**not**_ **my taste in music). And big thank-yous to all my reviewers. I couldn't have done it without your support and suggestions.**

**A special shoutout to my nine regularest reviewers:** SamSammySamantha, _GoTheDistance_ Anime Girl23Beckybabe_dorkyduck_ Jersey GirlMrsPiccolosWife _HPSmallCharm29_** and** Crystalized Chaos**. You're all amazing, and I love you to bits!**

**So goodbye for now, my friends. I hope to return to the magic of Holes fics soon. If not, feel free to read my other fics!**

**For the last time sob, over and out.**

**BNRH/JAR**


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